full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Dorothy Roberts: The problem with race-based medicine

Unscramble the Blue Letters

I wasn't quite sure how to answer the question. Was it aiemd at mnuraiseg the diversity of research participants' saiocl backgrounds? In that case, I would aesnwr with my social identity, and chcek the box for "black." But what if the researchers were interested in investigating some association between ancestry and the risk for certain genetic traits? In that case, wouldn't they want to know something about my ancestry, which is just as much European as African? And how could they make scientific findings about my genes if I put down my social identity as a black woman? After all, I consider myself a black woman with a white father rather than a white woman with a bcalk mother entirely for social rsaeons. Which racial identity I check has nothing to do with my genes. Well, despite the obvious importance of this qietousn to the study's scientific validity, I was told, "Don't worry about it, just put down however you iideftny yourself." So I check "black," but I had no confidence in the rstuels of a study that treated a critical variable so unscientifically.

Open Cloze

I wasn't quite sure how to answer the question. Was it _____ at _________ the diversity of research participants' ______ backgrounds? In that case, I would ______ with my social identity, and _____ the box for "black." But what if the researchers were interested in investigating some association between ancestry and the risk for certain genetic traits? In that case, wouldn't they want to know something about my ancestry, which is just as much European as African? And how could they make scientific findings about my genes if I put down my social identity as a black woman? After all, I consider myself a black woman with a white father rather than a white woman with a _____ mother entirely for social _______. Which racial identity I check has nothing to do with my genes. Well, despite the obvious importance of this ________ to the study's scientific validity, I was told, "Don't worry about it, just put down however you ________ yourself." So I check "black," but I had no confidence in the _______ of a study that treated a critical variable so unscientifically.

Solution

  1. question
  2. black
  3. results
  4. social
  5. check
  6. measuring
  7. aimed
  8. identify
  9. reasons
  10. answer

Original Text

I wasn't quite sure how to answer the question. Was it aimed at measuring the diversity of research participants' social backgrounds? In that case, I would answer with my social identity, and check the box for "black." But what if the researchers were interested in investigating some association between ancestry and the risk for certain genetic traits? In that case, wouldn't they want to know something about my ancestry, which is just as much European as African? And how could they make scientific findings about my genes if I put down my social identity as a black woman? After all, I consider myself a black woman with a white father rather than a white woman with a black mother entirely for social reasons. Which racial identity I check has nothing to do with my genes. Well, despite the obvious importance of this question to the study's scientific validity, I was told, "Don't worry about it, just put down however you identify yourself." So I check "black," but I had no confidence in the results of a study that treated a critical variable so unscientifically.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
race medicine 5
black people 4
human genome 3
muscle mass 3
black woman 2
genetic difference 2
treating patients 2
clinical measures 2
black patients 2
white people 2
diagnostic tool 2
lung capacity 2
red vital 2
vital blood 2
structural inequities 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
red vital blood 2

Important Words

  1. african
  2. aimed
  3. ancestry
  4. answer
  5. association
  6. backgrounds
  7. black
  8. box
  9. case
  10. check
  11. confidence
  12. critical
  13. diversity
  14. european
  15. father
  16. findings
  17. genes
  18. genetic
  19. identify
  20. identity
  21. importance
  22. interested
  23. investigating
  24. measuring
  25. mother
  26. obvious
  27. put
  28. question
  29. racial
  30. reasons
  31. research
  32. researchers
  33. results
  34. risk
  35. scientific
  36. social
  37. study
  38. told
  39. traits
  40. treated
  41. unscientifically
  42. validity
  43. variable
  44. white
  45. woman
  46. worry